Gas burner



V. MALJCK Sept, 15, 1931.

GAS BURNER Original Filed Nov. 24, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet lA/Vf/V TOR: VICTOR fiA/CK duty Sept. 15, 1931. v. MAUCK 1,823,111

GAS BURNER Original Filed Nov. 24, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 1 5, 1931 PATENT OFFICE VICTOR MAUCK, OF MERION, PENNSYLVANIA GAS BURNER Original application filed November 24, 1924, Serial No. 752,037. Divided and. this application filed April This is a division of my application (131 2%) Serial No. 752,037 filed November 24, 192st, for Letters Patent of the United States for improvement in thermostatically controlled gas water heaters, which has resulted in Patent No. 1,769,590, issued July 1, 1930, and which includes claims for the general construction of the combustion chamber herein disclosed; the claims in this case being laid to the specific construction and arrangement of a single gas burner, having a large number of flame orifices; adapted to burn gas at a widely variable rate, and to maintain flames at said orifices as long as the gas is flowing therethrough, despite periodic reduction of the volume and pressure of gas, and consequent size of said flames, to an irreducible minimum. 4

As hereinafter described, my invention 5 embodied in a heater adapted to be included in a house water supply system and comprising a container which is a hot water reservoir constructed and arranged to automatically regulate and maintain a predetermined temperature of the water stored in said reservoir,

by varying the supply of gas to a burner in accordance with the temperature of the water in the reservoir; reducing the flow to the minimum when the water reaches such predetermined temperature.

In the heater hereinafter described, said water reservoir container has a combustion chamber at the bottom thereof with a flue leading to the outer atmosphere through the container and the burner is horseshoe-shaped and has a mixing chamber, in unitary relation therewith, extending transversely in said chamber in readily removable connection with a gas supply inlet in the side wall of said chamber; said burner being removably supported upon a vertically extending pipe which it partly encircles; so that said burner may be readily removed to be cleaned, without disturbing the gas supply fittings with which it is normally in cooperative relation.

My invention includes the various novel features of construction and arrangement herein set forth.

In said drawings; Fig. I is a plan view of a Serial No. 272,937.

gas water heater conveniently embodying my invention. V

Fig. II is a vertical sectional view of said heater, taken on the line II, II in Fig. I.

Fig. III is a plan view of the burner which is indicated in Figs. I and II.

Fig. IV is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of said burner and the gas supply fittings with which it is detachably connected.

In said figures; the water container comprises the cylindrical metal shell 1, having the cold water inlet 2 and the hot water outlet 3 at the top thereof, and the combustion chamber 5 at the bottom thereof. The diaphragm 6 forms the bottom closure of the water space 7 in said container 1, and the top of said combustion chamber. The flue 10 has its lower end connected with said diaphragm 6, and extends to the outer atmosphere, through said water container, parallel with, but eccentric to, the axis of said container shell 1.

The hollow oblate water spreader 11 is mounted in eccentric relation with said diaphragm 6 and extending below the latter in said combustion chamber; having at its upper portion, in coaxial relation, an externally screw threaded neck flange 13 extending in a corresponding opening surrounded by the flange 14 in said diaphragm 6. Said spreader has, in coaxial relation therewith, but eccentric to said container, the socket 15, engaged with the lower end of the hot water riser pipe 16 which terminates in spaced relation with the top of said container shell 1. Said spreader also has two diametrically spaced cold water inlet nozzles 17, at respectively opposite sides of said socket and in communication with the water space 7 through said spreader neck 13. Such water spreaders as above described are claimed in my copending application (1828) Serial No. 272,936 filed April 26, 1928, for Letters Patent of the United States, which has resulted in Patent No. 1,787,989 issued J anuary 6, 1931.

The water drain pipe 18 extends from the bottom of said spreader 11 to the exterior of said combustion chamber 5 where it is provided with the drain cock 19, through which sediment may be withdrawn from said body 23, having the radially extending cross bars 24 forming axial bearings 25 embracing said drain pipe 18 and resting upon said collar 20. The mixing tube 26 extends from said burner body 23 in eccentric tangential relation thereto but in diametrical relation with said container 1 and combustion chamber 5, as best shown in Fig. I, and is slip fitted over the. gas supply tube 27. The arrangement is such that said burner may be readily withdrawn and replaced laterally with respect to said pipe 18 and collar 20 which support it. As

shown in Figs/I and II; said mixing tube 26 is enlarged at its outer end and provided with the restricted air inlet 28 at the bottom thereof.

The gas conduit 30 leading to said burner 23 has the automatically, thermostatically, operative valve 31, arranged to control it in accordance with the expansion and contraction of a thermostatic element in the tube 32, which is rigidly connected with said valve. Although any suitable form of said valve 31 may be employed; that indicated is a specific form claimed by Arthur Paige in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,542,573 granted June 16, 1925.

Said tube 32 extends diametrically in the waterspace 7 in said container shell 1, between said flue 10 and hot water riser pipe 16, and said valve 31- andtube 32 are detachably connected with said container shell 1 by the screw thread on the valve casing engaging the spud 33 in said shell. 3 i i I also find it convenient to provide said gas supply conduit 30 with the manually operative stop cock 34, leading to said conduit 27, between said automatic valve 31 and said burner 23; and also to provide the manually operative needle valve in said conduit 27 between said stop cock 34 and said burner 23 in cooperative relation with an inlet port in the nozzle 36 which is detachably connected with said conduit 27, in coaxial relation with saidmixing tube 26. I

It is to be understood that said stop cook 34 may be manually opened or closed, to either permit or prevent the passage of gas through said automatically, thermostatically, con trolled valve 31; the function of the latter being to so regulateand control the rate of flow of gasto the burner 23 as to maintain the water in said container space 7 at a predetermined temperature for which saidvalve 31 is calibrated. The function and effect of said needle valve 35 is to permit the operator to clean, and vary the effective areaof the port surrounding the inner, conicahend of said valve 35, leading through said nozzle 36 di rectly to the burner.

The heater chosen for illustration is of the type wherein a considerable volume of hot water is stored and normally maintained at a predetermined temperature, say 170 F.; as distinguished from heaters which have a minimum storage capacity and depend for their eificiency upon rapid heating of a minimum quantity of" water upon demand. Therefore, it is important to conserve all of the heat generated by combustion of the gas at said burner 23, so as, to minimize the quantity required. Therefore, I provide the heat insulating casing for said container and combustion chamber, and including the exterior shell 38, in concentric spaced relation with said container shell 1, and a refractory porous lining 39 for the same, which may be conveniently formed of involutely wrapped.

primarily plane sheets of corrugated asbestos paper, which form a cylinder filling the space between said concentric cylindrical shells 1 and. 38 as indicated in Fig. II. Said heat insulating casing includes the metallic top cover 40 having the refractory lining 41 which may be conveniently formed of the same material as the lining 39. Said casing shell38 is also provided with the base coverv 42 having the opening 43 in coaxial relation with said water container shell 1; affording access to the combustion chamber 5 to permit the operator to adjust and clean said burner 23.

However, if the burner, 23 remained thus exposed; a considerable volume and pressure of. gas would be required to maintain the burner lighted; whereas, I find that the desired temperature of-the stored water can be maintained by the combustion of gas at such a slow rate that it would be impossible to thereby continuously maintain the flames 44 at said burner, if the latter were exposed to any direct air draft. Therefore, I provide a heat insulating closure for said open ing 43, including the annular metal frame 45 containing the lining46 ofporous refractory material, conveniently such as above described. Said lining may be formed in semicircular sections, as indicated in Fig. I, to

facilitate its application and'removal with respect to said pipe 18. Said closure 45 is detachahly connected with said base 42 by the clip 48 which is stationary upon said casing: cover 42, and the slide catch 49 which is mounted to reCiprOc-ate.through the stationary bight; 50 upon said casing cover 42, diametrically opposite tosaid clip 48. Said base 42 has. flanged plates 52 (welded thereon to detachably engage the legs 53,- by their respective wedge lugs 54.

Itmay be observed that the construction and arrangement above described are such that the spacein said combustionchamber 5 is substantially secluded from the outer atmosphere, by a porousmedium excludingall forceful air drafts from said burner The. air necessary for combustion islet in to said chamber 5, only through the minute pores of said lining 46 and interstices at the junctions of said closure 45 with said outer casing cover 42; so that small flames 44 may be continuously maintained upon said burner 23 in an atmosphere in which the movement of air is thus so diffused and controlled as to prevent extinction of such flames.

Said heater'mechanis n operates as follows: Said catch 49 being withdrawn and said bottom closure 45 removed, by lowering it upon the pipe 18 from the position shown in Fig. II, to aflord access to the combustion chamber 5, and said needle valve 35 retracted to permit the passage of gas to the burner 23 through said nozzle 36; the gas is turned on by opening the stop cook 34 to the position shown, and the gas ignited at the outlets 22 in the top of said burner 23 to form the flames 44. Thereupon, said closure 45 is re placed and secured as indicated in Fig. II and, by the operation of the thermostatic element 32, affected and effected by changes in the temperature of the water in the container chamber 7 more or less gas is permitted to pass through said supply conduit 30 and the valve 34 and around the valve 85 to said burner 23 to heat the water in said spreader. Owing to the oblate form of said spreader 11, the hot water rises within it to the top thereof and flows upwardly through the riser 16 into said container chamber 7; displacing a corresponding volume of cold water which flows downwardly through said spreader neck 13 and nozzles 17 into contact with the hot lower wall of said spreader, thus circulating the water from said container 1 through said spreader until the desired temperature thereof is reached and maintained.

Of course, said thermostatically controlled valve 31 is operated to gradually diminish the volume of gas permitted to pass therethrough in accordance with the rise in temperature of the water in said space 7, until the minimum is reached which will main tain the desired temperature of the stored water under normal conditions. Under such conditions, the gas flames 44 remain continuously lighted at said burner 23 although they fluctuate in height in accordance with the volume of gas being consumed which, of

course, depends upon the rate at which water is drawn from the space 7 with consequent lowering of the temperature thereof by the influx of cold water through the pipe 2. It may be observed that the latter terminates immediately above said thermostatic element so that the latter is instantly affected by inflowing cold water.

In order to remove said burner 23 without removal of any of the pipe connections, it is only necessary to shift it to the left in Fig. II far enough to release the outer end of the mixing tube 26 from the gas supply tube 27.

Said burner may then be partly turned around said drain pipe 18 and withdrawn from the latter. I

Although I prefer to conserve the heat in the container and combustion chamber by means of metal members lined with porous refractory material, as above described, and claimed in my copending application aforesaid, Serial No. 7 52,037 any suitable heat insulating means may be employed.

It is the ordinary practice to provide gas water heaters with substantially large openings through which the outer atmosphere may freely communicate with the space in which combustion is eflected; upon the theory that such provision for large volumes of inflowing air is essential for the proper operation of a gas burner. As far as I am aware, it is entirely novel and original with myself to seclude such a burner in a chamber from which the outer atmosphere is excluded as above described, regardless of whether such seclusion is attained by refractory means or not. Such combustion chambers are claimed in my copending application Serial No. 752,037 aforesaid.

Moreover, it is the usual practice to provide the mixing tubes leading to gas burners with a series of air inlets encircling the gas inlet; upon the theory that such an arrangement is necessary or desirable to facilitate the mixture of the air with the gas. However, the volume and rate of flow of gas in my improved heater above described, to maintain the stored water at the predetermined temperature aforesaid, are so slight that it was found in practice that such. air inlets permitted a considerable portion of the gas to drift, backward, out of the air inlets above the gas inlet and to thus escape, unconsumed, through the flue. Therefore, I found that hermetically sealing the upper portion of the mixing tube 26 and providing a restricted air inlet 28 only at the bottom thereof prevented such escape and waste of gas and caused all of the gas passed by the automatically thermostatically controlled valve to be delivered through the burner and consumed thereat. Although I have found it convenient to form said inlet 28 as a slot extending sectorally in said tube 26; of course, itmay be otherwise shaped; the essential feature being that means are provided to hermetically close the mixing tube around the gas inlet, except for a restricted air inlet below the gas inlet, and it may be observed that said air inlet is at a'greater distance from the jet orifices 22 in the top of the burner than said gas inlet. Moreover, the distribution of gas to said jet orifices 22 is facilitated by the fact that the latter are at the uppermost portion of the burner 23 and the gas tends to flow upwardly thereto, because it is lighter than atmospheric air.

Therefore, I do not desire to limit myself to the precise details of construction and arrangement herein set forth, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made therein. without departing from the essential featuresof my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim 1-. A gasbu-rner comprising a horizontally extending hollow, horseshoe-shaped, body; having numerous jet orifices extending through the top thereof; a mixing tube extending horizontally from said body, and having a gas inlet, extending horizontally therein, at the outer end thereof, and below the level of said orifices; andmeans hermetically closing the other endof said mixing tube around said gas inlet, except for a restricted air inlet at the bottom thereof, more remote fromsaid orifices than said gas inlet; whereby gas supplied through said gas inlet at low pressure and in small volume is properly mixed with air, and subjected to the convection currents in said body, and thereby prevented from escaping from said mixing chamber except through said orifices; wherein the axis of the mixing tube is in eccentric tangential relation to the burner body has a hollow enlargement at the outer end thereof in concentric relation with said gas inlet, and is reduced in cross sectional area between said air inlet and said orifices; whereby the intimate mixture of the gas and air, and uniform distribution'of the mixture to said orifices are facilitated.

2. A gas burner comprising a horizontally extending, hollow, horseshoe-shaped, body; having numerous jet orifices extending through the top thereof; a mixing tube extending horizontally from said body, and having a gas inlet, extending horizontally therein, atthe outer end thereof, and below the level of said orifices; and means hermetically closing the other end of said mixing tube around: said gas inlet, except for a restricted air inlet at the bottom thereof, more remote from said orifices than said gas inlet; whereby gas supplied through said gas inlet at low pressure and in small volume is properly-mixed'with air,and subjected to the con- F .vection currents in said body, and thereby prevent-ed from escaping from said mixing chamber except through said orifices; having means arranged to support it in readily removable relation with a: vertical pipe in a water heater; comprising opposite, inwardly extending, radial cross bars with vertically extending, axial bearings fitted to embrace suchpipe and adapted to sit stably and level upon the horizontal top end of a collar encircling saidpipe.

3.v A gas burner comprising a horizontally extending hollow arcuate body having numeroussmall jet orificesextending thru the top thereof, in spaced relation; a mixing tube extending; horizontally from said body with its axis in tangential relation thereto, and having a gas inlet, at the outer end thereof, and below the level of said orifices; means hermetically closing the outer end of said mixing tube aroundisaid gas inlet,except fora restricted air inlet at the bottom thereof, more-remote from said orifices than. said. gas inlet; said mixing tube beingreduced in cross sectional area between said air inlet and said orifices; whereby gas suppliedthru said gas inlet at low pressure and in small volume is intimately mixed with air and so subjected to the convection currents in said body as to be prevented from escaping from. said mixing chamber except thru said: orifices, and said mixture is uniformly distributed to said orifices.

4. A gas burner comprising a horizontally extending hollow a-rcuate body having numerous small jet orifices extending thru the top thereof, in spaced relation; a mixing tube extending horizontally from said body and having a gas inlet, at the outer end thereof, and below the level of said orifices; means hermetically closing the outer end of said' mixing tube around said gas inlet, except for a restricted air inlet at thebottom thereof, more remote from said orifices than said gas inlet ;said mixing tube being reduced in cross sectional area between said air inlet and said orifices; whereby gas supplied thru said gas inlet at low pressure and in small Volume is intimately mixed with ai'rand so subjected to the convection currents in said body as to be prevented from escaping from said mixing chamber except thru said orifices, and said mixture is uniformly distributed to said orifices.

5. A gas burner as in claim 4; including opposite inwardly extending bars with vertically extending bearings fitted to embrace a pipe in coaxial relation to said burner, and

adapted to set stably and level upon a support on said pipe.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signedmy name at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, this eighteenth day of February,

VICTOR MAUCK' 

